News

IT for government and public sector

• April 23, 2014 23 Apr'14

  Most cyber attacks use only three methods, Verizon breach report shows

  Businesses need to focus on only a few attack methods, the Verizon 2014 Data Breach Report shows

• April 22, 2014 22 Apr'14

  Cyber attacks move to cloud with increased adoption, report shows

  Cyber attacks are migrating to the cloud with increased adoption, a report reveals.

• April 22, 2014 22 Apr'14

  Talent shortage is threatening growth of London’s technology sector

  A shortage of talent and immigration legislation has been blamed for hampering technology growth in London

• April 22, 2014 22 Apr'14

  New iOS malware highlights threat to Apple mobile devices

  New malware is stealing Apple ID credentials from jailbroken iPhones and iPads, warn security researchers

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  DDoS toolkits boost attacks in first quarter of 2014

  DDoS toolkits boosted amplification attacks in the first quarter of the year, according to Prolexic report

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  Just 2% of citizens think government’s digital services will have an effect

  Only 2% of the UK believe the government’s push to offer public services digitally will have a great effect on their lives

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  Centerprise ICT 2015 Treasury contract guarantee of SME commitment

  HM Treasury has handed a four year media and wireless contract understood to be worth around £2.5m to Hampshire-based services provider Centerprise, under the auspices of its ICT 2015 contracts

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  Tests prove Heartbleed bug exposes OpenVPN private keys

  Tests prove that the Heartbleed bug exposes the private encryption keys used by OpenVPN servers

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  Canada sees first Heartbleed bug arrest

  Canada has made the first Heartbleed bug arrest over the theft of data from the country's tax authority

• April 16, 2014 16 Apr'14

  GCHQ appoints Robert Hannigan as new director

  Robert Hannigan has been appointed as the new director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

• April 16, 2014 16 Apr'14

  Heartbleed repairs threaten to cripple the internet

  The internet could slow to a crawl as companies scramble to fix the Heartbleed bug, security experts warn

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  EU data privacy authorities approve Microsoft Azure, Office 365 cloud services

  The European Union's data privacy authorities have given approval to Microsoft's cloud services including Windows Azure and Office 365

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  G-Cloud chief claims customers have made £120m savings

  G-Cloud and digital commercial programme director Tony Singleton has claimed public sector organisations have saved over £120m by purchasing services through the G-Cloud framework

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  How small tech firms can reduce cyber risk

  Five things small to medium-sized technology firms can do to reduce their cyber risks

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  Superfast broadband speeds rise, but rural areas still considerably slower, says Ofcom

  Superfast broadband connections – offering speeds of 30Mbps or more – rose from 5% in November 2011 to 25% in November 2013, says Ofcom

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  (ISC)² launches cyber forensics credential in Europe

  (ISC)² has announced the availability of its Certified Cyber Forensics Professional certification in Europe

• April 15, 2014 15 Apr'14

  Mumsnet becomes first known UK victim of Heartbleed bug

  Mumsnet is the first known UK victim of hackers exploiting the recently discovered Heartbleed bug

• April 14, 2014 14 Apr'14

  Canada Revenue agency reports Heartbleed data theft

  The Canada Revenue Agency reports that attackers exploiting the Heartbleed bug have stolen the social insurance numbers of 900 Canadians

• April 14, 2014 14 Apr'14

  Telco firm cuts incident response time by 80%

  US telco IDT has reduced its incident response time by 80% through integration, consolidation and automation

• April 14, 2014 14 Apr'14

  Government pledges to reduce digital divide by 25%

  The government has launched a Digital Inclusion Strategy to reduce the number of offline people in the UK by 25%

• April 14, 2014 14 Apr'14

  Heartbleed denial reveals loophole for NSA spying

  The NSA has denied it exploited the Heartbleed security flaw, but US officials have revealed a loophole that would allow such actions

• April 11, 2014 11 Apr'14

  Business can no longer ignore cyber conflict, says report

  The likelihood of cyber attack and breach is greater than ever, according to the latest threat report by Mandiant

• April 11, 2014 11 Apr'14

  Microsoft halts Windows 8.1 update for businesses due to bug

  Microsoft has suspended the Windows 8.1 update for business users because of a bug.

• April 11, 2014 11 Apr'14

  Cisco and Juniper warn of products hit by Heartbleed bug

  Cisco and Juniper have issued security bulletins warning that some products are vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug

• April 10, 2014 10 Apr'14

  The Heartbleed genie is out of the bottle – now what?

  Now that the details of Heartbleed are public, anyone can use it against vulnerable servers. What should be done?

• April 10, 2014 10 Apr'14

  TCG releases TPM 2 specification for improved security

  The Trusted Computing Group has published an updated specification for the Trusted Platform Module

• April 10, 2014 10 Apr'14

  UK physicist Stuart Parkin wins Millennium technology prize

  UK-born physicist Stuart Parkin has won the 2014 Millennium technology prize for a breakthrough in magnetic disk drive storage capacity

• April 10, 2014 10 Apr'14

  Lack of business and IT engagement led to BBC DMI failure, say MPs

  The BBC’s £100m Digital Media Initiative was a 'complete failure', and lack of engagement between IT and business was a major factor, say MPs

• April 10, 2014 10 Apr'14

  Police forces still struggling on cyber front

  Most police forces in England and Wales do not have a comprehensive plan to deal with a large scale cyber incidents, reveals an official report

• April 09, 2014 09 Apr'14

  Peterborough council to ditch SAN in move to Box cloud storage

  Peterborough City Council will not renew maintenance on its EMC storage arrays and aims to migrate all staff to Box cloud storage by 2015

• April 09, 2014 09 Apr'14

  Cyber threat moving to critical infrastructure, study shows

  The cyber threat is moving from data breaches to global critical infrastructure, an insurance industry study shows

• April 09, 2014 09 Apr'14

  Facebook changes privacy settings again

  Facebook has tweaked its privacy settings yet again in a charm offensive aimed at encouraging users to share more content

• April 09, 2014 09 Apr'14

  DWP should scrap existing Universal Credit IT, say MPs

  Department for Work and Pensions should consider scrapping its existing IT for Universal Credit and focus solely on the new digital solution, say MPs

• April 09, 2014 09 Apr'14

  EFF calls for rapid mitigation of Heartbleed internet bug

  All websites should use perfect forward secrecy to protect against Heartbleed internet security flaw, says EFF

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  Crown Hosting Service kicks off with £70m procurement project

  The Cabinet Office has started procurement for the new Crown Hosting Service to centralise datacentre hosting across central government

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  UK to review snooping powers of authorities

  UK surveillance watchdog is to investigate whether authorities make too many communications data requests

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  Top EU court declares data retention directive invalid

  The European Court of Justice has declared the EU Data Retention Directive invalid

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  Liverpool John Moores University launches big data healthcare initiative

  The Liverpool Big Data Collaboration for Health project aims to link health records between NHS trusts to exploit big data analytics

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  Workday sees opportunity for cloud financial management in Europe

  Workday plans to push cloud finance and accounting services to enterprise in Europe, but observers say its background in HR technology may prove an obstacle

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  Microsoft invests in teacher training ahead of curriculum change

  Microsoft has invested £334, 000 in a programme to help train computing teachers ahead of changes to the curriculum in September this year

• April 08, 2014 08 Apr'14

  OpenSSL security flaw could affect millions of websites, warn researchers

  At least two-thirds or websites could be affected by an OpenSSL cryptographic library flaw, warn researchers

• April 07, 2014 07 Apr'14

  Port Authority uses tablets for cargo inspections

  Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) is using tablet devices and a wireless network to increase the speed and accuracy of its cargo inspections

• April 07, 2014 07 Apr'14

  UK cyber security guidelines lack clarity, says IET

  The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) calls on government to clarify what cyber security advice UK firms should follow

• April 07, 2014 07 Apr'14

  IET calls on government to set example over Windows XP

  The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) calls on the UK government to replace all copies of the obsolete Windows XP OS

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  ICO issues data protection warning to users of Windows XP

  The ICO has issued a warning about the potential data protection risks due to the end of support for Windows XP

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  Cabinet Office vetoed Home Office plans for 'critical' e-Borders replacement

  Home Office plans for IT systems to replace ageing border security systems that contain “critical vulnerabilities” were vetoed by the Cabinet Office

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  600,000 people expected to use identity assurance by end of 2014

  The government expects 600,000 people to be registered through its identity assurance (IDA) programme by the end of this year

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  Public sector lacks IT skills to deliver services effectively

  IT skills most sort after in public sector if services are to continue to be delivered effectively, reveals survey

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  European parliament votes in support of net neutrality

  The European parliament has voted in support of proposed telecoms legislation that aims to enforce net neutrality rules.

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  Turkey lifts Twitter ban

  Turkey has lifted a ban on Twitter after the constitutional court ruled that the block breached freedom of expression

• April 04, 2014 04 Apr'14

  HMRC uses Hadoop to tackle corporate tax avoidance

  HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) uses open source technology with a Hadoop NoSQL big data engine to analyse tax filings

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  NHS England to invest £230m into GP IT systems

  NHS England has announced its plans to spend £230m to improve the quality of GP practices’ IT systems

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  Joan Miller steps down from role as director of parliamentary ICT

  The director of ICT in Parliament, Joan Miller, will retire from her role later this year

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  David Cameron calls on BT to present rural broadband roll-out plans

  Prime minister asks BT to provide more details about its rural broadband roll-out - but BT says it is not its responsibility to do so

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  Get rid of Windows XP quick, says Gartner

  Gartner is advising businesses to ditch Windows XP as soon as possible because of the security risks

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  Parliamentary computers crash 90 minutes after IT assurances

  Network suffers ‘major incident’ soon after MPs and Lords are told, "It is working much better"

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  Why have organisations failed to make PSN compliance deadline?

  A number of organisations have failed to meet the PSN security compliance deadline despite the threat of being cut off from critical services

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  Yahoo encrypts users' data to boost security and privacy after NSA revelations

  Yahoo is the latest internet company to start encrypting users' data to try to win back trust after disclosures over National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Government signs £5.5m Microsoft deal to extend Windows XP support

  The government has signed a deal with Microsoft to support Windows XP across the UK public sector for 12 months after 8 April deadline

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Barking and Dagenham Council swaps XP desktops for Chromebooks

  Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council migrates from Windows XP to Google Chromebooks

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Millions of routers open to criminal exploitation, study shows

  More than 24 million routers worldwide could be used by cyber criminals to launch DDoS attacks, a study shows

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Study alleges deeper NSA influence on RSA

  RSA adopted a second NSA-developed encryption tool, increasing the agency's spying capabilities, a study claims

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  LinkedIn halts Sell Hack plugin revealing email addresses

  Sell Hack has suspended functionality to reveal LinkedIn email addresses in response to a cease-and-desist order

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Businesses must rethink HR IT as traditional jobs disintegrate

  HR software needs a complete rethink to deliver services to an increasingly dispersed workforce, says cloud technology specialist

• April 01, 2014 01 Apr'14

  UK reaches key milestone in cyber security

  CERT-UK is a key milestone in the development of the UK’s cyber security capabilities, says director Chris Gibson

• April 01, 2014 01 Apr'14

  Turkey adopts new tactic to block social media

  Turkey has reportedly started hijacking net addresses in an attempt to step up blocks on social media

• April 01, 2014 01 Apr'14

  UK update to copyright law imminent

  The UK is to update its 1988 copyright law for the digital age in line with a nearly three-year-old review

• April 01, 2014 01 Apr'14

  BT and government under fresh fire over rural broadband

  BT and the government have come under fresh criticism over the provision of broadband services to rural areas

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  Government failed at promoting competition over BDUK, say MPs

  The government has consistently failed to promote competition during the roll-out of rural broadband across the UK, according to the PAC.

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  Cyber security is economic opportunity for the UK, says government

  Cyber security is an essential feature of the UK’s economy, says government

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  Snowden revelations have changed attitudes to cloud, study claims

  Snowden's revelations of internet surveillance have changed attitudes to cloud computing, a study claims

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  UK finally launches national cyber emergency team

  After several delays, government has finally launched the first national computer emergency response team, CERT-UK

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  Business counts cost of cyber attackers’ secret weapon

  Businesses are counting the cost of failing to defend against advanced evasion techniques (AETs), a report reveals

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  Thales to secure connectivity of Highways Agency

  Thales has been awarded a 5-year contract to provide secure network connectivity services for the Highways Agency

• March 28, 2014 28 Mar'14

  BlackBerry posts massive loss, but turnaround remains on-track

  BlackBerry has posted revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 of approximately $976 million, down 64% from $2.7 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2013.

• March 28, 2014 28 Mar'14

  All companies can help fight cybercrime, says Microsoft

  All companies have a role to play in helping to fight cybercrime, says Microsoft

• March 28, 2014 28 Mar'14

  Last Bletchley code-breaker dies

  Captain Raymond "Jerry" Roberts, one of the last surviving Bletchley Park code-breakers, has died

• March 28, 2014 28 Mar'14

  Google says government data requests are up 120% since 2009

  Government requests for information about Google customers, have increased by 120% since 2009

• March 28, 2014 28 Mar'14

  Turkey now targeting YouTube

  Turkey appears to be attempting to block YouTube a day after a court ordered an end to the ban on Twitter

• March 27, 2014 27 Mar'14

  Security an unnecessary expense, say one in six techies

  One in six IT professionals see security as an unnecessary expense, a study has revealed

• March 27, 2014 27 Mar'14

  Atos pays “substantial financial settlement” for DWP contract release

  Atos Healthcare paid a substantial amount of money to be released early from the controversial disability testing contract with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 18 months before it was due to end

• March 27, 2014 27 Mar'14

  State surveillance keeping a third of firms from the cloud

  A third of security professionals do not keep corporate data in the cloud because of fears of government snooping, survey reveals

• March 27, 2014 27 Mar'14

  Russian ministers ditch iPads over security concerns

  Russian ministers have ditched their Apple iPads in favour of Samsung tablets because of security concerns

• March 27, 2014 27 Mar'14

  Twitter expects Turkey to lift ban after court ruling

  Twitter expects the ban on its service to be lifted in Turkey after a local court issued a stay of execution on last week’s banning order

• March 26, 2014 26 Mar'14

  UK plans to professionalise infosec are too rigid, says (ISC)2

  (ISC)2 has raised concerns about aspects of government plans to professionalise information security

• March 26, 2014 26 Mar'14

  Government predicts 2013 IT savings will exceed £500m

  The government expects IT savings in 2013 to exceed the previous year’s £500m savings, said government CTO Liam Maxwell

• March 26, 2014 26 Mar'14

  TechUK criticises OFT's reporting of IT cartel accusations

  TechUK criticises a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) alleging anti-competitive behaviour and collusion between public sector IT suppliers

• March 26, 2014 26 Mar'14

  ICO updates corporate plan for better data protection

  The latest corporate plan from the ICO promises a fresh approach to handling public concerns about data protection

• March 26, 2014 26 Mar'14

  Labour calls for mandatory cyber breach reporting

  The Labour Party has called for another UK defence review to consider creating a statutory requirement for firms to report serious cyber attacks

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  Rural broadband needed to push forward with G-Cloud services

  Broadband in remote areas of the UK needs to be implemented in order for councils to take full advantage of G-Cloud

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  Study supports economic approach to tackling cybercrime

  Cybercrime black markets have reached unprecedented levels of maturity and growth, a study reveals

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  Broadband users lose out with ISPs failing to deliver advertised bandwidth

  People are getting poor value for money in their broadband contracts, according the European Commission

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  Parliament must speed up internal processes to push forward with G-Cloud

  Parliament needs to speed up its internal decision making processes to continue taking advantage of G-Cloud, said director of Parliamentary ICT Joan Miller

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  White House wants to overhaul NSA phone data collection

  The White House is set to call for major changes to the NSA phone metadata surveillance programme

• March 25, 2014 25 Mar'14

  China demands explanation of NSA spying on Huawei

  China demands an explanation from the US over reports that its National Security Agency (NSA) infiltrated the networks of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei

• March 24, 2014 24 Mar'14

  Microsoft set to roll out anti-cybercrime strategy in Europe

  Microsoft plans to expand its botnet disruption strategy beyond the US to Europe and other regions

• March 24, 2014 24 Mar'14

  Lincolnshire County Council outsources to Serco

  Lincolnshire County Council has agreed to outsource services including IT to Serco in five-year deal worth £70m and will next month embark on a 12-month transition from its existing supplier

• March 24, 2014 24 Mar'14

  Analysis: Care.data – where next?

  Following the public debate surrounding the NHS Care.data plan, it was unsurprising the topic dominated the UK’s largest health IT event

• March 24, 2014 24 Mar'14

  DCMS to fund rural trials of superfast broadband

  The DCMS has opened up its £10m funding pot for suppliers with innovative ideas to help superfast broadband reach remote UK areas

• March 24, 2014 24 Mar'14

  Turkey attempts to increase block on Twitter

  Turkey has increased its efforts to block access to Twitter after many user found ways around a government-imposed ban